Improved axle-box



1. s. LISTER.

Car-Axle Box. I

Patented June 23, 1868.

71 mg o .Zwvan/l'or gfiiirh ga I L STONE LISTER, or PHILADELPHIA,PENNSYLVANIA;

Lam-s Patent Nd; 79,238, elated James, '1868.

IMPROVED AXLE-BOX.-

.TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: v

Be it known that I, I. SroNE LISTER, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, haveinvented certain Improvements in Axle-Boxes; and I do hereby declare-thefollowing to be afull, clear, and exactdescription of the'same. I

I My invention consists in chambering'the bearing. of anaxle-box sogastoform, above'the journal, a reserv'oir for oil, which passes by its owngravity-through channels in the hearing tothe journahthe flow of oilfrom the reservoir being regulated by a screwvalve, all'as describedhereafterl The object of my invention is to effectually lubricate thebearing, and at the same time economize the consnmption of oil. g V I Inorder to enable others skilled in the art to make and applymyinventio'n, I will now proceed to describe its construction andoperatiomreferenfce being had to the accompanying drawing,-Which formspart of this specification, and in which- 1 I I Figure 1 is avertical-sectional view of my improved axle-box.

Figure 2, atransverse section on the line 1-2, 1.

Figure 3, a section on the'line 3-4, fig. 1.

Figure 4, a sectional plan view on the line 5-6, fig. 1.

Figure 5, a detached View, drawn to an enlarged scale, and. illustratinga portion oi -my invention; and

Figure 6, aninverted-plan view of the journal-bearing.

A is the top, B the bottom, C the front, and D the bacl: of an axle-boxof the shape, or approximating to the shape shown in the drawing. v

In the back Dis the usual circular opening for the admission of the endof the axle, and extending verti cally throughthe back, from the top tothe bottom of the same, is an opening,'a,into which are inserted (abo'veand below the axle) strips of leather packing, b and bl I A yoke, E,extends through the opening a, on each side of the packing, and passesbeneath thestrip b, the

latter being raised and maintained in contact with the under.portion ofthe axle, on r aising the said yoke, by means of its nuts 0 c I is I Theupper packing-strip b, which rests upon the axle, is prevented fromrising by the nuts 0 c, which bear upon itsupper edge, and is preventedfrom moving laterally by a? pin, (1, which extends across .the openinga, :mdlpasses through a slot, at, in the strip, (see fig. 3.) g

The journal-bearing or brass, F, is introduced through'an-opening, 2',in the top; and through the front of the box, after removing the slidingdoor e and the said bearing is held in its place, and prevented frommoving either longitudinally or laterally, by a projectiom f, on thetop, and by projections 99 at the sides of the box, (see figs. 1 and 4.)t

The opening 2', above mentioned, extends across the top of the box, andis covered by an oil-reservoir, G, ofthe square or rectangular formshown in the d wing, the latter being secured to the bybolts jj, fig. 2,and having a hollow projection, is, screwed into the top of thejournal-bearing F.

Extending through the bearing, and communicating with the hole in theprojection, is, of the reservoir, is a channel, Z, in the bottom ofwhich arethree or more holes,'m, through which, under the circumstancesdescribed hereafter, the lubricating-material from the reservoir passestothe journal; and each of these holes commu= nicates with a diagonalgroove, it, in'the'under face of the hearing, as shown in fig.'6 I

In the top of the reservoir, G, fig. 5, is a screw-plug, I, on removingwhich the reservoir may be filled; and. extending through the 'saidplug, and communicating with each other, are a vertical and a horizontalpassage,

' p and 10, for the supply of air to the reservoir, which supply,however, may be cut oft, to a greater or less extent,

by raising orlowering a screw or screw-valve, g, which passes throughthe top"of the plug.

In axle-boxes as heretofore constructed, the bottom of the box hasserved as a receptacle for the oil or other lubricating-material to besupplied to the journal, and thepacking in the back of the box-,has beenarranged with a view of preventing leakage of the lubricating-material.

By this arrangement, when the reservoir is filled, morelubricating-material is supplied to the journal and its bearing thanis'required, and a portion of it is wasted or lost by leakage and whenthe supply becomes low in the reservoir,- thejournal is not properlyand'regularly oiled, if at all. i

These objections I overcome by the use of my invention, in which, as Iwill now proceed to describe, a. proper and constant supply oflubricating-material is fed to the journalfrom above, instead of frouibelow.

The oil contained in the reservoir, G,'ll0WS through the passage in thescrewed projection 7:, into the 'ch'an nel' Z of-the bearing, and thencethrough the. holes m mm into the grooves 71, from which it is fed to thejournal, the supply of air to the reservoir, and consequently the flowof oil from the same, being regulated by the screw valve g, fig. 5. Ifthe latter be raised, communication between the passages}; and?" will beopened, air will enter the reservoir Gr, and the oil 'willflovt freelyfrom the same to the journal; but if the screw-valve beclose'd, and thesupply of air shut off, the oil cannot fiow'from the reservoir withoutproducing a partial vacuum, and will therefore remain Within the same.It will thus be seen that, by adjusting the screw-valve properlyutheflow of oil can-be regulated-to a nicety, and no more nor less than theproper quantity fed to the journal. 7

In some cases the reservoir Gr may be dispensed with, and a receptaclefor oil formed in an enlargement of the channel I, or in a projectingportion of the bearing, the screw-plug I and its valve being thenapplied to thebearing instead of'to. the reservoir G.

The diagonal grooves n n n of the bearing prevent the clogging of thepassages m, and insure an equal 'distribution of thelubricating-materialover the surface of the journal.

The only office ofthe packing-strips b and b in this case is toprevent'the admission of particles of dust to the interior of the box,and the consequent clogging of thegrooves n and passages m.

v I claim as my invention, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent- 1.A'bearing, arranged within an axle-box, above a journal, and having achamber and channels leading from the same, through which oil may flowby its own gravity to the journal, all substantiallyfas and for thepurpose described. I

2 The combination of the said chambered bearing with the oil-reservoirG. p 3. The plug L with its air-passages 1a and p, and regulating-valveq, in'combination with the reservoir G. In testimony whereof, Ihavesigued my name to this specification in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

I. STONE LISTER.

Witnesses:

' Jomv W ITE,

H. SMITH.

